Carrier $45 Unlimited Talk, Text, Data on Straight Talk (AT&T MVNO)?

macrumors 6502a

Has anybody tried using Straight Talk for their iPhone? From reading around it looks like they use AT&T's postpaid network. I read that they will work with any AT&T locked phone, including the AT&T locked iPhone, because they are supposedly an AT&T MVNO. Can anyone confirm this?

macrumors 6502

From what I understand Straight talk uses T-Mobiles network. Thats why its so cheap, People I know have coverage like T-Mobile in my area (which is bad) rather than a strong fast signal like At&t (which has great coverage where I live)

Edit: But while looking at their website, voice coverage seems to match At&t's map. So it may be possible.

thread startermacrumors 6502a

From what I understand Straight talk uses T-Mobiles network. Thats why its so cheap, People I know have coverage like T-Mobile in my area (which is bad) rather than a strong fast signal like At&t (which has great coverage where I live)

Edit: But while looking at their website, voice coverage seems to match At&t's map. So it may be possible.

Click to expand...

From what I understand and read, which network you use depends on which phone you bring over.

macrumors 68020

you can use straighttalk but it appears to be a big pain as you can't just get a sim and use it with your iphone. You have to get a certain smartphone and use that sim for it to work. Requires a little too much money upfront IMO. I use Red Pocket and have used H2O which both run on AT&T as well so you don't have to be unlocked. I pay $59.99/month for unlimited talk/text/2gb data. Works nice and u aren't charged any tax either.....

you can get h2o sims at bestbuy and i got my red pocket sim on amazon for $2.89...use a sim cutter and you're good to go.

macrumors 6502

Has anybody tried using Straight Talk for their iPhone? From reading around it looks like they use AT&T's postpaid network. I read that they will work with any AT&T locked phone, including the AT&T locked iPhone, because they are supposedly an AT&T MVNO. Can anyone confirm this?

macrumors 6502a

you can use straighttalk but it appears to be a big pain as you can't just get a sim and use it with your iphone. You have to get a certain smartphone and use that sim for it to work. Requires a little too much money upfront IMO. I use Red Pocket and have used H2O which both run on AT&T as well so you don't have to be unlocked. I pay $59.99/month for unlimited talk/text/2gb data. Works nice and u aren't charged any tax either.....

you can get h2o sims at bestbuy and i got my red pocket sim on amazon for $2.89...use a sim cutter and you're good to go.

macrumors 6502

Currently, it is technically against the terms of service to use any other phone than the ones they specifically sell, though they haven't been checking the IMEIs unless you called for support. However, you would need to purchase a $50 Nokia phone (refurbished), activate everything on that device, and THEN transfer the SIM to the iPhone.

Starting on Feb 7th, Straight Talk will be selling SIM cards for unlocked devices (though you wouldn't necessary need unlocked if you have an AT&T iPhone anyway) as part of a new service... only initial cost will be a $15 SIM fee (much better than the $50 phone), AND you don't have to worry about them terminating your service by using a non-official phone, since this new service is BYOD ("bring your own device"). Still $45 unlimited everything, and perfectly legal now. (Note that you cannot use a CDMA iPhone 4 or 4S with Straight Talk. It must be GSM)

One concern, that will still hold for the new BYOD service is the data limitations. While it is technically unlimited, they have cut some people off who use high amounts of data (i.e. 5-10+ GB per month). It is recommended by people online that you try to stay below 2GB per month if possible. However, people who have gone over have been able to call up (they claim to have said they left YouTube open), and have their data re-activated. In general, it seems as long as you don't go crazy with data usage, you'll be fine.

Some other things to note include the 3G speed, which is usually around 2-3Mbps down on the 3GS and 4, and I've seen screenshots of up to 5-6Mbps on the iPhone 4S. The carrier in the top left of the screen (next to your bars) will read "HOME" rather than "AT&T". You can change this if you'd like if you are jailbroken by using an app called FakeCarrier.

3G data, Push email, FaceTime, and iMessage all work if you use the APN of "att.mvno". MMS works for some, though may require a jailbreak application. I'm not concerned about MMS though, and I don't jailbreak. I rarely receive them, and I can send images as emails if I need to. Personal hotspot also only works for some, but there are some ideas out there on how to activate it without a jailbreak, though it is technically against their Terms of Service, and you could be red-flagged in their system if you use tons of data tethering all day.

I hope this post has helped; I will most likely be ordering the new SIM next week to use this service on my 4S, finally an upgrade from EDGE on T-Mobile, which I use currently.

macrumors 601

Currently, it is technically against the terms of service to use any other phone than the ones they specifically sell, though they haven't been checking the IMEIs unless you called for support. However, you would need to purchase a $50 Nokia phone (refurbished), activate everything on that device, and THEN transfer the SIM to the iPhone.

Starting on Feb 7th, Straight Talk will be selling SIM cards for unlocked devices (though you wouldn't necessary need unlocked if you have an AT&T iPhone anyway) as part of a new service... only initial cost will be a $15 SIM fee (much better than the $50 phone), AND you don't have to worry about them terminating your service by using a non-official phone, since this new service is BYOD ("bring your own device"). Still $45 unlimited everything, and perfectly legal now. (Note that you cannot use a CDMA iPhone 4 or 4S with Straight Talk. It must be GSM)

One concern, that will still hold for the new BYOD service is the data limitations. While it is technically unlimited, they have cut some people off who use high amounts of data (i.e. 5-10+ GB per month). It is recommended by people online that you try to stay below 2GB per month if possible. However, people who have gone over have been able to call up (they claim to have said they left YouTube open), and have their data re-activated. In general, it seems as long as you don't go crazy with data usage, you'll be fine.

Some other things to note include the 3G speed, which is usually around 2-3Mbps down on the 3GS and 4, and I've seen screenshots of up to 5-6Mbps on the iPhone 4S. The carrier in the top left of the screen (next to your bars) will read "HOME" rather than "AT&T". You can change this if you'd like if you are jailbroken by using an app called FakeCarrier.

3G data, Push email, FaceTime, and iMessage all work if you use the APN of "att.mvno". MMS works for some, though may require a jailbreak application. I'm not concerned about MMS though, and I don't jailbreak. I rarely receive them, and I can send images as emails if I need to. Personal hotspot also only works for some, but there are some ideas out there on how to activate it without a jailbreak, though it is technically against their Terms of Service, and you could be red-flagged in their system if you use tons of data tethering all day.

I hope this post has helped; I will most likely be ordering the new SIM next week to use this service on my 4S, finally an upgrade from EDGE on T-Mobile, which I use currently.

Click to expand...

great write up! let us know how it goes as soon as you have set up your iPhone. I'm particularly interested how well visual voicemail works.

macrumors member

I for one can't wait. I have a MetroPCS LTE phone and lets just say "skippy" dies after 4 hours of use during the winter and 2.5 hours during the summer. So im doing the ST BYOP deal using my old 3G iphone. The good news is that they have both sim choices: Micro or regular sim cards so no need to buy a cutter of Ebay. also is a better deal for my money. 45 instead of 60 a month. I barely go over 3GB a month. Plus you can choose Tmob or ATT "lets surf and talk at the sametime "

macrumors member

I checked for my zip code and they still have the micro sim. Re check tomorrow they might have more. Also some of the posters of H.W say that even if it says sold out pick the micro sim plus 45 dollar minute and it should appear.

macrumors 6502a

Currently, it is technically against the terms of service to use any other phone than the ones they specifically sell, though they haven't been checking the IMEIs unless you called for support. However, you would need to purchase a $50 Nokia phone (refurbished), activate everything on that device, and THEN transfer the SIM to the iPhone.

Starting on Feb 7th, Straight Talk will be selling SIM cards for unlocked devices (though you wouldn't necessary need unlocked if you have an AT&T iPhone anyway) as part of a new service... only initial cost will be a $15 SIM fee (much better than the $50 phone), AND you don't have to worry about them terminating your service by using a non-official phone, since this new service is BYOD ("bring your own device"). Still $45 unlimited everything, and perfectly legal now. (Note that you cannot use a CDMA iPhone 4 or 4S with Straight Talk. It must be GSM)

One concern, that will still hold for the new BYOD service is the data limitations. While it is technically unlimited, they have cut some people off who use high amounts of data (i.e. 5-10+ GB per month). It is recommended by people online that you try to stay below 2GB per month if possible. However, people who have gone over have been able to call up (they claim to have said they left YouTube open), and have their data re-activated. In general, it seems as long as you don't go crazy with data usage, you'll be fine.

Some other things to note include the 3G speed, which is usually around 2-3Mbps down on the 3GS and 4, and I've seen screenshots of up to 5-6Mbps on the iPhone 4S. The carrier in the top left of the screen (next to your bars) will read "HOME" rather than "AT&T". You can change this if you'd like if you are jailbroken by using an app called FakeCarrier.

3G data, Push email, FaceTime, and iMessage all work if you use the APN of "att.mvno". MMS works for some, though may require a jailbreak application. I'm not concerned about MMS though, and I don't jailbreak. I rarely receive them, and I can send images as emails if I need to. Personal hotspot also only works for some, but there are some ideas out there on how to activate it without a jailbreak, though it is technically against their Terms of Service, and you could be red-flagged in their system if you use tons of data tethering all day.

I hope this post has helped; I will most likely be ordering the new SIM next week to use this service on my 4S, finally an upgrade from EDGE on T-Mobile, which I use currently.

MacRumors attracts a broad audience
of both consumers and professionals interested in
the latest technologies and products. We also boast an active community focused on
purchasing decisions and technical aspects of the iPhone, iPod, iPad, and Mac platforms.